Monday, September 26, 2011

Scrambled Tofu (Really!)

Okay all of you scrambled egg lovers! I think I may have a solution for going egg/dairy free. I tried this recipe from VegWeb.com. It's called:

The Best Breakfast Scramble Ever! I made it exactly as the recipe calls for the first time around, but deviated a little bit from the original recipe the second time. I didn't use nearly as much oil as it called for.

Onion and garlic in a pan sprayed with Pam.

Add the mushrooms after the onions are a little cooked.

I also used mushrooms instead of green pepper. I like green pepper, but didn't have any on hand. It worked out just fine. Just make sure that you sautee the onion and garlic for a couple of minutes first. Mushrooms are soft and will cook down to mush if you cook them for the same amount of time as the onion.

Mmmm...looks like feta.

Extra-Firm Tofu isn't something that I'm terribly familiar with working with. It comes in a solid hunk. I crumbled half to demonstrate what it looks like before and after.

The recipe has you push the veggies to the side and fry up the tofu in a little vegetable oil. I used less than a tablespoon of oil over medium/high heat. I let it fry up for a couple of minutes, and then just stirred it all together to finish frying it.

Cheez Sauce

The "Cheez Sauce" that the recipe includes, uses something called Nutritional Yeast. Look it up - interesting stuff. I picked up a rather large container in my local grocery store in the health food aisle. Btw - I did try it sprinkled on popcorn as it suggests on the container...don't do it. Anyway - I made up the recommended amount and was able to re-use it twice, it made so much. It stored well in a tupperware container in the fridge.

The sauce is what really makes this taste like eggs. The Nutritional Yeast has a nutty, cheesy flavor that tremendously helps the nearly tasteless tofu. I like to put enough on to coat and then heat through. These "scrambled eggs" are best rolled in a tortilla with a little salsa. I've been a breakfast burrito lover for years, and this one was good enough to fool me.